Brace for holding boxes and crates in railway cars



c. BAcoN BRACE FOR HOLDING BOXES AND CRATES IN RAILWAY CARS Filed Ju ne 15, 1922 s Sheets-Sheet 1 M INVENTOR 0 2M ATTORNEY Ngv, 25, C. BACON BRACE FOR HOLDING BOXES AND CRATES IN RAILWAY CARS Filed June 15 1922 3 Sheets-Sheet -2 ATTORNEY 1,517,100 C. BACON BRACE FOR HOLDING BOXES AND CRATES IN RAILWAY CARS Filed June 15, 1922 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 g o o a o o t M INVENIOR A g I Patented Nov. 25, 1924.

id t lt l fiw S WET CHARLES BACON, 01E FRESNO, CALIFORNIA.

Appflication filed June 15, 1922.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, CHARLES BACON, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Fresno, in the county of Fresno and the State of California, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Braces for I-Iolding Boxes and Crates in Railway Cars, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to a brace for holding tiers of boxes or crates in railway cars.

In United States Patent No. 1075001 issued to me on October 7, 1913, I disclosed a form of brace consisting of a frame which hung down from the roof of the car between the tiers of boxes near the center of the car, and which by means of a series of screws could be pushed against the tiers of boxes, and the boxes would thereby be clamped between the end of the car and the brace.

A second United States patent dated November 28, 1916, No. 1206648 was granted to me for a brace for holding boxes and crates in railway cars in which there were two movable members connected with toggle bars operable with a screw adapted to push the members apart, the object of that invention being to push the boxes on each side of the brace toward the end of the car, thus clamping them therein. The present invention is an improvement on the two devices herein before referred to as patented to me, said improvement comprising means for anchoring the brace in any portion of the car so that less than a car load of boxes can be easily braced therewith.

I accomplish these objects by means of the device hereinafter described and illustrated on the accompanying drawing in which Figure 1 shows a car having a portion of the side wall cut away to show the side arrangement of my device therein. Figure 2 is a top plan view of a portion of the car having'parts cut away to show a top plan view of the clamping device. Figure 3 is an assembled view of a movable partition, an anchoring device, and the expansive brace for clamping the partitions. Figure 4 is a separate view of the expansive brace. Figure 5 is a reverse view of Figure 3. In said drawing B represents an ordinary box car, and C are tiers of boxes within the car. D is a movable partition which fits loosely in the car. They can be made solid, but preferably they are made of strips running vertically and horizon- Serial No. 568,576.

tally, with one vertical strip, or one horizontal strip for each tier or row of boxes. In the drawings the vertical strips in the partition are designated 2 and the horizontal strips are shown as For the purpose of anchoring these partitions in any portion of the car I have provided partition D with a frame across the bottom and ends, the ends of the frame being shown as 4. and 4 and the bottom as 1 Guide holes 5, 5 and 5 are made through this frame and anchors 6, 6 and 6 are constructed with main stems 7, 7 and 7 anda plurality of branches 8, 8 and 8 which extend through holes 5, 5" and 5 The ends of branches 8, 8 and 8 are preferably sharpened, such sharpened points being indicated as 55, 55 and 55 The inner ends of main stems 6, 6 and 6" terminate in cog bars 9, 9 and 9 They are arranged so that the cog bars simultaneously engage with a cog wheel 10 which can be turned with a crank 11. Ordinary ratchet means can be used in connection with the cog wheel 10 to lock the combination of cog wheel 10 and cog bars 9, 9 and 9 in the adjustment desired. 13 is a plate attached to the central portion of the movable partition I) and 13 13 and 13 are guides attached to plate 13 for the bars 9, 9 and 9".

It is here noted that by this means the movable partition can be clamped against the bottom and sides of the car at any position between its ends.

In Figure 4 I have shown a toggle expansive clamp such as has hen described and patented to me by Patent No. 1,206,648, dated November 28, 1016. This clamp consists of two beams and 21, a screw 22, k

the screw having reverse threads at one end, a plurality of internally threaded blocks 23 23 and 23, and toggle braces 2 1 24 and 241: pivoted in pairs at one end to the threaded blocks and at the other end to the beams 20 and 21, as shown in the drawing. By turning the screw 22 by means of crank 11*, the distance between the beams 20 and 21 is increased or diminished. To clamp an object, or tier of boxes in a car a brace D is anchored in the car as hereinbefore described, an ordinary brace D is placed against the tier of boxes, and the expanding clamp is placed between the movable partitions and then expanded as above described until the boxes are tightly clamped against the end of the car.

I claim as new and ask for Letters Patent:

1. The combination with a box car of a partition and means for attaching said partition to the walls of the car consisting of rods pointed at one end each rod having a rack of cogs at the other end, said rods being arranged in slideways, attached to the partition, said slideways being positioned to permit the rods to move toward and beyond the periphery of the partition, and a cog wheel adapted to engage the cogs on all of the racks simultaneously, and to move said rods within the slidevvays, means for turning the cog Wheel, and ratchet. means for locking said cog wheels, substantiallyvas described.

2. An adjustable partition for a railway car having a plurality of slideways extending toward the periphery of the partition and approximately parallel to the bottom and sides respectively of said partition, rods slidable in said slideways, each of said rods terminating at the outer end with a plurality of branches, each branch being pointed at the outer end, said rods having a rack or cogs adjacent to the inner ends, and a cog wheel adapted to engage all of said racks of cogs simultaneously, and to force the rods simultaneously beyond the periphery of said partition.

3. An adjustable partition for a railway car having a lurality of slideways extending toward tie periphery of the partition and approximately parallel to the bottom and sides respectively of said. partition, rods slid-able in said slideways, each of said rods terminating at the outer end with a plurality of branches, each branch being pointed at the outer end, said rods having a rack of cogs adjacent to the inner ends thereof, and a cog wheel adapted to engage all of said racks of cogs simultaneously, and to force the rods sin'iultaneously beyond the periphery of said partition, in combination with a second adjustable partition adapted to be spaced from said first described partition by adjustable means, together with means for rotating said cog wheel, and means for looking said cog wheel from rotating, substantially as described.

CHARLES BACON. 

